


It's Hard to Think About

by Iamacarrot



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Brotherly Love, Hurt/Comfort, Inspired by SML in general, Protective Older Brothers, Sick Character, oof
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-10-30 02:42:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17820260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iamacarrot/pseuds/Iamacarrot
Summary: Mikey's having a growth spurt, and is in pain. And the medicine he's given isn't really helping him that much.





	It's Hard to Think About

**Author's Note:**

> "My overprotective big brother senses are tingling!"  
> ~Raphael, 2019

_Hiiiiiiiiiisssssssss_

Leo looked down at his baby brother, calmly watching the younger's almost stiff movements.

"So... is it safe to assume that you're having a bad day?" Leo asked, backing away just in time to dodge the angered swipe he received in response. "Yep."

Mikey growled, huffing before slinking away from his brother. The poor little guy had suddenly shown a  _HUGE_ spurt in his growth, and, expectedly, Mikey was showing extreme signs of anxious pain. Growing into one's shell could be quite painful, both literally and figuratively. Mikey wasn't used to this type of pain, and didn't have any healthy ways to distract himself from it, so, whenever he got his random spurts of agitation, he would hide, pick unnecessary fights with his brothers, or rush into the kitchen to eat.

"Poor guy..." Leo sighed, thinking to himself before gasping. "Yet again, you, Leonardo, have come up with a beautiful idea~"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Leo, why have you dragged us down here?" Donnie asked, clear annoyance in his voice.

"Yeah! I was in the middle of doing my sets!" Raph added.

"Well, if you two  _must know_ , I do indubitably believe that I have found the answer to our current problem." Leo replied proudly.

"Specify, will you?" Donnie muttered.

"What is there to specify? I found the perfect doctor, to try and help with Mikey's growing pains!" Leo announced, gesturing to a medium sized building.

The band of brothers had made their way into the Hidden City, Raph and Donnie being confused as to why they had been urged to do so. Now that they knew, however, Raph and Donnie were starting to enjoy this idea, whereas Mikey didn't show any type of reaction to the situation. Which made sense. He  _had_ been tied up and placed in a crate, so he wouldn't attack anyone on the way down.

"You hear that, Miguel? We're going to help you- HOW DID YOU UNTIE THE ROPES?!" Leo screamed, backing away as his baby brother clawed and swiped at him.

Mikey growled, backing up into the far left of the crate. The tiny turtle hissed, getting more and more agitated as time ticked on. Because of this, Raph, Donnie, and Leo took no time to scamper into the building. Once they got in, Leo walked up to a desk, telling the receptionist that he had set an appointment before leading his brothers into a waiting room.

"How did you find out about this doctor?" Raph asked.

"I heard a few Yokai talking about him when we were in the Run-Of-The-Mill pizzeria. Apparently, he's got some of the highest ratings of any doctor in the Hidden City!" Leo replied softly.

"And you're  _sure_ that he'll be able to handle Michael in this state?" Donnie asked, looking to Mikey, who glared back.

"Don't look him in the eye. He'll take it as a challenge." Leo advised, turning Donnie's face away. "Though, now that I think about it; Nurse? Can we get some kind of blanket or something? I don't think it's the best idea for our brother to see everyone in the room in his current state of mind!"

"What are you doing?! You're gonna draw attention to us!" Raph whisper-shouted.

"So? Were you not paying attention when we were walking through the Hidden City? This is  _nothing_ compared to what some of the other sick Yokai have to go through." Leo replied.

"Here you go, sir." a nurse happily chimed.

"Thank you." Leo responded.

"Would you like some help in getting it over the crate?" the nurse asked.

Leo looked to the crate housing his baby brother. Mikey hissed, baring his teeth and yowling before jumping forward, attempting to bite his way out of the crate.

"That would be greatly appreciated." Donnie replied.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Michelangelo?" a voice called, alerting the trio of older brothers that it was time to move.

"Alrighty boys, be prepared to open the crate _carefully_." Leo advised, earning nods.

The trio stood, Raph picking up Mikey's crate. Thankfully, Mikey had fallen asleep around fifteen minutes ago, and was bound to feel a bit better when he woke up. The brothers walked into the room they were led into, each taking a deep breath before Raph set the crate down.

"Well, I see that you boys come prepared." the doctor chuckled. "I'm Dr. Campbell, and I assume that this apprehended little "fiend" is who I'll be working with?"

Raph, Donnie, and Leo nodded.

"Well then, come and let him out. I want to see what he's like unrestrained." Dr. Campbell instructed, mentally preparing himself as his patient's crate was opened.

Suspicion and tension grew as the crate door was finally opened all the way. A yawn escaped from the dimmed crate, and, not too long after, a sleepy little Box Turtle crawled out, rubbing his eyes calmly.

"Guys? Why are we at the doctor?" Mikey asked innocently, smiling as he was pulled into a tight family hug.

"We're glad that you're feeling better." Leo whispered, answering all of Mikey's questions.

"Am I gonna get punished?" Mikey inquired with fear.

"No, Michael. You aren't going to get punished. What you're going through is perfectly fine." Dr. Campbell assured, patting on a patient's bed, indicating that he wanted Mikey to come over and sit down.

Mikey did so, calmly going through his physical examination with no uneasiness whatsoever. Donnie was always checking up on his brothers' physical and mental welfare anyways, so this wasn't anything new. The only difference between the exams at home and with a real doctor, was that Dr. Campbell was using a bit more physical contact than Donnie ever had. Which made sense. The Softshell wasn't really medically trained like a real doctor was.

"You're body seems to be doing its exact job. You're in shape, have excellent vitals, and your growth rate is that of a normal teenager." Dr. Campbell announced. "Now, with that, there will be a few more... psychological changes... in your body as well. Do you know what they are?"

Mikey shook his head. Donnie, however, absentmindedly nodded, a look of pure concern plastered onto his face.

"What I mean by that, is that you will start having more, for lack of a better term,  _animalistic_ tendencies." Dr. Campbell chimed. "For instance, you will notice that your body will begin to become more in tune to its surroundings. So, if you see something or someone that your body finds attractive or arousing-"

"HOW ABOUT WE JUST STAY ON THE INTENDED TOPIC, YEAH? THAT WOULD BE  _GREATLY APPRECIATED_." Donnie growled, scowling as he was pulled back by Raph.

"Heheh. Please don't take any offense to that. He just doesn't want Mikey to  _grow up_ yet." Leo sighed.

"Oh, he's perfectly fine. I'll just let you boys have that talk with Michael. For now, I  _will_ find something to help ease his growing pains." Dr. Campbell announced. "And, while I'm gone, maybe you can start off that little talk, hmm?"

Raph and Leo glared at Donnie. Mikey sent a confused look, wondering about what he was being told. What was his body going to do?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"And, here you go! Now, I want him to take a tablespoon of this every four hours, for the next five days." Dr. Campbell instructed.

"Thank you  _so much_ , Dr. Campbell!" Raph sighed happily.

"It's no problem. But, there  _is_ a minor side-effect that may or may not occur." Dr. Campbell warned. "Michelangelo may have sudden bursts of anger."

"Wait, but, sudden bursts of anger are what we're trying to  _avoid_." Donnie muttered.

"I am aware of that. This side-effect is  _not_ guaranteed to happen. I wouldn't worry too much." Dr. Campbell assured.

"Well, you're the doctor. We'll call if we need anything!" Leo claimed, turning and walking off with his brothers.

"I'm sure you will." Dr. Campbell chuckled softly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay Miguel, you need to take a sip of this every four hours." Raph instructed, as if the little turtle hadn't heard the doctor firsthand.

"I know this information, Raph." Mikey teased, drinking down the dose of medicine given to him, and coughing violently. "IT BURNS! IT BURNS SO BAD!"

"MIKEY! Okay, calm down! I'll call the doctor!" Raph shouted, pulling out his phone.

"RAPHIE! IT  ** _BURNS_** _!_ _"_   Mikey wailed, gripping his throat and taking deep breaths, coughing louder.

Upon hearing the quickly escalating situation, Donnie and Leo raced into Mikey's room. Leo wrapped a blanket around Mikey, and Donnie gave Mikey a glass of water, both of them whispering assuring words as Mikey gulped the water down. It didn't take long for the water to help, and Mikey spit up the medicine that had been burning his throat, shuddering and trying to catch his breath.

"Are you okay?" Leo asked softly.

Mikey nodded, sighing and leaning into his brothers' arms. Deep breaths of relief escaped from the three older brothers, and they watched as Mikey gently nudged the medicine bottle away. Raph got the hint, and grabbed the bottle, taking it into the kitchen, and placing the bottle in a high cabinet.

"I don't wanna take that medicine anymore." Mikey whimpered, nuzzling up against Donnie's plastron.

"I wouldn't want to either." Leo sighed, patting Mikey's head. "We'll go give that doctor a call, okay bud?"

"Okay." Mikey whispered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Of course! How could I have forgotten? I got Michael's medicine mixed up with another patient's!" Dr. Campbell shouted over the phone. "Now, with Mikey's medicine, you need to add a teaspoon of it to a cup of  _Chamomile_ tea every six hours."

"How _could_ you have mixed up such vital information?! Oh, you are  _so lucky_ that I'm not down there!" Raph shouted.

"Raph, calm down. Nobody's perfect. Thank you for admitting your fault, Dr. Campbell. We'll call you if something else happens." Leo sighed, pinching at his temple after Donnie hung up the phone.

"So, at least we know what to do now." Donnie remarked, "pocketing" his phone.

"I'll make the tea." Raph huffed.

"I'll go see how Mikey's doing." Leo chimed.

"And I guess that leaves me to test something." Donnie muttered, following Raph into the kitchen.

Leo rolled his eyes, walking into Mikey's room, and smiling as he found Mikey sleepily reading a book.

"Teddy Bear Makes a Friend. Good choice. Not the best read, but not the worst, either." Leo commented, crawling onto Mikey's hammock.

Mikey giggled, cuddling close to his immediate older brother and moving the book so that both brothers could read it.

"I'm sleepy." Mikey whispered, yawning to prove his point.

"Well then, looks like you need the sleepy treatment." Leo replied, smiling as Raph walked in with the (most likely pre-treated) tea. "A cup of tea, a sweet book, and two out of three big brothers to stay until you sleep."

"I don't want the tea! My throat still hurts!" Mikey whined.

"Mikey, it's been  _four hours_. It's very unlikely that your throat still hurts." Leo chuckled.

"Well, it  _does!_ I don't want tea!" Mikey whimpered, knowing very well that the tea had been tampered with in some way.

"Hey, look at me. I promise you, that if this doesn't work, we won't make you take that bad medicine anymore, yeah?" Leo assured.

Mikey pouted, but nodded, purring as he got a sweet kiss on the cheek. Raph handed Leo the tea, and Leo held the tea, looking to Mikey. The Box Turtle whimpered, looking away from the cup.

"It's okay. We're here." Leo whispered.

With a sigh, Mikey grabbed the cup, blowing at the liquid, before taking a sip. Raph and Leo waited anxiously, prepared to do whatever was needed to help their baby brother. To everyone's surprise, however, nothing happened, and the three brothers cheered.

"I'm so glad that worked." Raph said, chuckling in restrained relief.

"I'm sure we all are." Leo replied, hugging Mikey close. "Now, I want you to drink it all, okay?"

Mikey nodded, sighing as his big brothers walked out of his room. Nonetheless, Mikey continued to drink the tea, finding nothing wrong with the taste. For a few seconds, Mikey was starting to believe that the medicine was better prepared. Of course, though, with his current luck, Mikey was then hit with a sharp pain in his stomach. Mikey yelped, dropping the cup of tea, and falling onto the floor, wailing and gagging as he tried to hack the medicine up.

"Mikey!" Raph and Leo screamed, rushing back into their baby brother's room, and sitting next to him.

Raph held Mikey close, while Leo tried to find some way to force the medicine out.

"Wait... water! DONNIE! WE NEED WATER!" Leo screamed.

Immediately, Donatello was racing into the kitchen, grabbing a cup, filling it with water, and appearing into Mikey's room in record time.

"Drink until you feel it come up." Donnie ordered, holding the cup against Mikey's lips, easing the cup back as Mikey continued to drink.

A second or two passed, and Mikey gagged, pushing the cup away, and vomiting onto the floor. A mixture of watery green and dark purple decorated the floor, and this left Mikey a sobbing mess. There was no doubt that Mikey was in pain, and that there was something in the medicine that was making it worse.

Speaking of which.

"We need to go to the doctor,  _now_."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh, hello boys. What brings you here?" Dr. Campbell asked casually, as if he hadn't seen Mikey, who was wrapped in a blanket, and cradled in Raph's arms.

"Don't even try that. Tell us what was in that medicine!" Donnie ordered.

"Medicine? Oh! Yes...  _medicine_..." Dr. Campbell muttered.

"Why did you say "medicine" like that?" Raph asked.

"Well, you see, what I gave your baby brother... wasn't medicine at all." Dr. Campbell confessed. "It was simply nothing more than raw Nightshade infused milk."

"You gave our baby brother  ** _RAW NIGHTSHADE?!?!?!?_** ** _"_**   Donnie screamed, pulling out his staff.

"WHOA! Don, look, I get that you're upset, but, what's so bad about Nightshades?" Leo asked, jumping in front of his purple clad twin.

"EVERYTHING! Box Turtles aren't biologically built to digest Nightshades!" Donnie explained, glaring at the doctor. "You could have  _KILLED HIM!"_

The doctor sighed, placing his hands behind his back and frowning.

"Alright, fine. Yes, I knew about the Nightshade fact, but, I wanted to try something out." Dr. Campbell started. "Since your brother is  _much_ larger than a standard Box Turtle, I wondered if he would be affected in the same way. I've been studying the difference in biological reaction in multiple Yokai, and I have had much luck so far. Of course, though, there were bound to be some mistakes. I am deeply sorry for what I have done to your baby brother."

"If you were sorry, then you wouldn't have done this to our baby brother to begin with..." Raph hissed.

"Hmm. You have a point. Sadly, though, you will not be able to teach me about that point. I have a few plans for other places, you see." Dr. Campbell chuckled, suddenly disappearing into thin air.

The brothers snarled, trying to keep their composure as they processed that their brother had been put in serious danger. Mikey whimpered, gripping his stomach. A soft, rare look of sympathy appeared on Donnie's face, and he took custody of Mikey for the time being. The young teen would have to have his stomach pumped, no doubt, and Donnie was more than ready to do whatever he could to help the process go on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"And then, Teddy Bear looked at Timmy Tiger and smiled.  _"This was the best day ever!"_   Timmy Tiger cheered. Teddy Bear giggled, high-fiving Timmy Tiger, and pulling Timmy Tiger into a hug. Then, the mischievous Cody Cougar walked up to them, snickering as he prepared to-"

"Mikey! Oh, thank goodness you're alright!" April gasped, rushing into Mikey's room, where Donnie was currently reading Mikey's favorite bedtime story.

"April!" Mikey cheered, voice hoarse.

"He's still a bit out from the Suction." Donnie announced.

April nodded, placing a comforting hand on Mikey's head. Mikey trilled, eyes closing as he lazily leaned his head against Donnie's shoulder. A warm smile, and a discreet lick of the cheek was all that Donnie gave, before he urged April out of the room.

"Is the patient ready for his favorite big brother?" Leo teased.

"Ha-ha. Cute. Just make sure he stays asleep." Donnie ordered quietly.

Leo nodded, a serious expression replacing his once playful one as his role of expected responsibility was announced. Donnie climbed out of the hammock, holding it still so that Leo could climb in.

"Hey bud." Leo whispered.

"Leo?" Mikey replied, hugging against his new big brother pillow after receiving confirmation.

"Want me to finish Teddy Bear Makes a Friend?" Leo asked.

Mikey nodded lightly, instinctually leaning closer against Leo once he felt Leo's arm wrap around him. The Slider retrieved the book from Donnie, and started to read, making sure to keep Mikey happy as the story went on. Eventually, both Mikey and Leo fell asleep, and were constantly checked on by their big brothers.

"How do we keep managing to get ourselves into these situations?" Raph sighed, sitting down next to Donnie in the living room.

"To Hell if I know. Let's just be glad that it didn't end as badly as it could have." Donnie replied, nervously fiddling with his fingers, most likely without realizing it.

"How about we don't think about the bad ending at all, yeah?" Raph suggested, shuddering as he did just that.

"Good call." Donnie whispered.

"...Are you worried for him?" Raph asked.

"Every day." Donnie replied.

"Same. But, no matter how much I hate to say this, we have to let him go eventually." Raph reminded, smirking at the horrified gasp he received. "Not in that sense, Don. Mikey's old enough to know what he needs, and we've always known what things would eventually come to this."

A long pause ran throughout the brothers. They both knew that this fateful day would arrive, but they never expected it to arrive so fast. Yes, it would be hard to do so, but it was for the best that they did this...

"We have to bind Mikey to Leo, now."

**Author's Note:**

> Box Turtles are DEATHLY ALLERGIC to Nightshades. Don't try to feed them these plants, please.
> 
> Beyond that, though, I think back to the whole "Leo taking Mikey under his wing" thing, and I think to myself: How would that work? Would Raph and Donnie have to hand over their rights of protection to Leo, or would this gradually happen?
> 
> Tell us, RotTMNT! TELL US NOW!


End file.
